The video includes another 4-5 minutes of debate. Which can be a bit grueling at times. A lot of the usual soundbites. The one advocate does a fair job holding his own, but makes a few concessions I would not have. But that’s to be expected when they pit three opposing pundits against one advocate. Not quite fair and balanced…

***

Recently someone asked whether I thought this incident helped or harmed gun rights. My feelings on this are rather mixed. I believe it both helped and harmed. For some it harmed and pushed away, and gave them some good sound bites. But there is evidence that this particular situation actually helped.

You see, I believe this situation completely caught the media off-guard. Usually, whenever such an event occurs the media resorts to right wing extremist, Nazi, white supremacist, militia statements. Except in this case the individual carrying the AR-15 was a black gentleman. This fact seemed to cut out much of the media’s usual rhetoric. In fact, I’d go so far as to say the media was a bit afraid of this event and unsure of how to handle it. The result is that many of the first articles I saw didn’t even show a picture of the man. Just the AR15 strapped to his back. It’d be a couple of days after hearing about this incident that I finally saw a video on CNN.com that including a brief interview with the man involved.

But why do I consider this a victory? Because it was one of the only times I’ve read a media article about guns that used proper terms like semi-automatic rifle, instead of referring to it as an automatic or assault weapon. Even CNN seemed to tread a bit more lightly. The individual’s actions were a blatant testimony to the fact that our 2nd Amendment right is for everyone. Both of those facts combined lead me to feel that we broke even or even came out slightly ahead on this incident. And when taken in light of the fact that our cause seldom wins or breaks even in the media’s coverage – then I say this is a win. I am sure others will disagree with me. Heck, I’ll disagree with me to a degree.